Farnborough boss Francis Vines was content with his team’s efforts in his first game in charge, despite being, in the end, soundly beaten by a classy Southampton side.

Make no mistake, Boro are unlikely to come up against a side as slick as the Championship outfit this season, and indeed it was a strong Saints squad that arrived at a new-look Cherrywood Road on Tuesday night.

They too had a point to prove, performing in front of their new Dutch manager, Jan Poortvliet, for the first time since his summer arrival.

Considering that the likes of the experienced Chris Perry, England U21 international Andrew Surman and Polish striker Gregorz Rasiak all began the first half, Vines’ young charges did well to hold their own for much of the first 45 minutes.

After the break, when the Saints fielded a totally new side, still boasting the talents of Jason Euell, Bradley Wright-Phillips and French U18 skipper Morgan Schneiderlin, Boro’s tired legs showed and they were ran a little bit ragged at times, to eventually lose the game 4-0.

But defeat was clearly no disgrace for a Boro side that started with four of their new summer acquisitions, and there were plenty of positives to take from the display, as Vines pointed out after the game.

“We did OK and I’m happy with how things went overall,” he said. “I would like to have scored, I would like to have won to be honest, but I’m just glad that the new boys got a run-out and I think the supporters will be pleased with what they saw.

“It was a bit of an exhibition and nice to see so many people through the gate. They sent down a good side so it was a nice opener for us.

“All the players have ability, and it’s a matter of bringing that together as a team. There were new faces in there today and I thought we did OK. Let’s be honest, we are not going to be playing quality like this every week.”

The first half was a tight encounter, and although Boro rode their luck a couple of times at the back, they were a match for their more illustrious opponents, creating a few half chances of their own.

With Chris Tardif, David Ray, Ryan Scott and Michael Charles all making debuts, the team did look settled after a slightly nervy opening, and the new signings appeared to slot into  Vines’ system well.

Kick-off was delayed as a big turn-out of more than 700 fans arrived at Cherrywood Road, and it was understandably the visitors who made the early moves in an assured start.

Boro were having to work hard off the ball and Saints came close when Paul Wotton smashed a shot just wide.

But Farnborough soon established a foothold in the game, and had their first chance when Luke Evans headed a Rob Saunders corner over the bar when completely unmarked.

Boro were growing in confidence and after 20 minutes created their best opening when Saunders drilled a pass inside the floundering Southampton left-back and Mark Gamble raced in from the right, drilling a low shot inches wide of the post.

However, just as it seemed as though Boro would go in deservedly level at the break, Saunders miscontrolled the ball just outside the area and a neat pass sent Southampton striker Matthew Paterson clear, who finished clinically.

After the break, Saints sent out a completely different side, and they took hold of the game as the pace of Wright-Phillips, David McGoldrick and Adam Lallana caused the Boro back line all sorts of problems.

Boro made changes as well, with Lyall Beazley looking sharp in goal in place of Tardif, and Paul Harkness and Liam Pestle also entering the fray.

By that point it was already 2-0, when Wright-Phillips wriggled free and picked out the highly-rated Lallana, who slotted past Beazley to double the visitors lead.

McGoldrick then brought a great save out of Beazley, and Wright-Phillips should have scored as well, only to be denied again by the young Boro stopper.

The inevitable third arrived after 67 minutes, with Boro largely camped in their own half. McGoldrick was the provider, lofting a clever pass into the area and Wright-Phillips smashed the ball into the bottom corner.

Connor Hamilton came on for his Boro debut, along with Jeff Gowland, ex-Aldershot Town and Fleet Town full back Will Salmon and ex-Saints striker Mark Peters.

It was the latter who nearly got his side on the scoresheet, facing up his defender and shooting early from the edge of the area and into the side-netting.

But Saints always looked capable of more goals, and after Beazley made yet another stop, this time from Euell, he was beaten once more at the death when Lallana slipped the ball through to McGoldrick who deservedly got amongst the goals.

Boro continue their pre-season build-up with a game against Maidenhead United on Saturday at Cherrywood Road (kick off 3pm).

For a full report, more reaction from Vines and a preview of Saturday's clash with Maidenhead, pick up a copy of Friday's News.